Mobile
Ad Hoc Networks Mobile
Ad-Hoc Networks (referred to as MANETs)), are impromptu wireless
communication networks increasingly appearing in the Commercial,
Military, and Private sector as portable wireless computers become
more and more ubiquitous. Mobile Ad-Hoc Networks allow users to
access and exchange information regardless of their geographic position
or proximity to infrastructure. In contrast to the infrastructure
networks, all nodes in MANETs are mobile and their connections are
dynamic. Unlike other mobile networks, MANETs do not require a fixed
infrastructure. This offers an advantageous decentralized character
to the network. Decentralization makes the networks more flexible
and more robust.
Applications
for MANETs are wide ranging and have use in many critical situations:
An ideal application is for search and rescue operations. Such scenarios
are characterized by the lack of installed communications infrastructure.
This may be because all of the equipment was destroyed, or perhaps
because the region is too remote. Rescuers must be able to communicate
in order to make the best use of their energy, but also to maintain
safety. By automatically establishing a data network with the communications
equipment that the rescuers are already carrying, their job made
easier.
A
commercial application for MANETs includes ubiquitous computing.
By allowing computers to forward data for others, data networks
may be extended far beyond the usual reach of installed infrastructure.
Networks may be made more widely available and easier to use.
Another
application of MANETs is sensor networks. This technology is a network
composed of a very large number of small sensors. These can be used
to detect any number of properties of an area. Examples include
temperature, pressure, toxins, pollutions, etc. The capabilities
of each sensor are very limited, and each must rely on others in
order to forward data to a central computer. Individual sensors
are limited in their computing capability and are prone to failure
and loss. Mobile ad-hoc sensor networks could be the key to future
homeland security.
However
MANETs are not perfect. The challenges of scalability, mobility,
bandwidth limitations, and power constraints of these networks have
not been completely alleviated to date. Bluetronix is developing
swarm intelligent routing, the MEMs hardware, and genetic algorithms
to optimize mobile routing which will help to make these networks
more efficient, scalable to very large numbers, and optimal in operation.
At
the center of these difficulties with MANETs are issues concerning
the determination of the rules (protocols) governing the communication
between the entities (nodes) in the network. One important question
is how to facilitate the dynamic discovery of the most efficient
route between two nodes within the network. It is important to take
into account the mobility of the nodes and the lack of a fixed topology
in the network.
Mobile Communications between autonomous vehicles,
aircraft and ground troops in a combat theater setting
